Chapter Forty-Three

Wednesday 1st January – 6:00am

"Good morning, beautiful," Elly whispered as she saw Chloe's eyes flutter open.

Chloe blinked her eyes through her tiredness, "Well this is a nice surprise…being woken up a little bit more naturally then by a crying-"

"Do not jinx it, Chlo," Elly interrupted gently, "Seriously we were up more than a dozen times last night, to actually wake up not because of my son cannot be jinxed."

Chloe giggled gently, "And did you wake up naturally or because of the peanut?"

Elly squeezed Chloe's hips as she continued spooning the blonde from behind with her arm around her waist, "I couldn't get back to sleep after we were last up with him. I mean can you blame me when I have the most beautiful woman in the world in my bed?"

Chloe frowned, "There's another woman in your bed?"

"You, doofus, you're the most beautiful woman in the world," Elly explained.

"Oh, I know, I just wanted to get you to say it again," Chloe teased bringing a smile back to her face.

Elly rolled her eyes at Chloe, "Sometimes I don't know why I love you."

Chloe gently pried Elly's hand from her hip for a moment as she rolled over to face Elly, placing Elly's hand back on her hip and entangling her leg over Elly's, "You love me because you love me."

"That must be it," Elly chuckled as she held Chloe in her arms.

Chloe stared into Elly's eyes, "Thanks for the best night."

"Do you have to go back to the couch tonight?" Elly asked as she nuzzled her lips against Chloe's neck, lightly kissing a trail up Chloe's neck, "Cause if you stay with me then I can…do more of this."

"You're so bad," Chloe whispered unable to resist lifting her neck and giving Elly more access to kiss her, "You know I can't stay in your bed tonight or until I dump Pierce…last night was…just the circumstance of New Years' and wanting to spend the night like we do for the rest of the year. I can't…"

"Oh, but you can," Elly mumbled as she kissed her lips up and down Chloe's neck, flicking her tongue against the flesh.

Chloe stifled a moan at Elly's actions before swallowing deeply, "I need to go back to the couch now before your family wake up and see I wasn't on the couch last night."

Elly eventually dragged her lips from Chloe's skin, pouting, "Fine…leave me alone in my bed…that's fine. Actually, do you want a coffee? I'll go make you one as I'm a little bit more awake then you are and bring it back here. You can get back to the couch after you've had your coffee."

"You sure we have that time up our sleeves before your family wakes up?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, Karl doesn't start work 'til 9am today so he won't be up yet and Suze said she's spending the day at Toadie's with Nell & Hugo, she's not going to be up early for that," Elly explained.

"And Bea?" Chloe pointed out.

"Bea's not working today remember as she's taking Elliot for a few hours so we can catch up on our sleep," Elly pointed out.

"Okay, if you can pry yourself from me then you can go make me a coffee. Actually, whilst you're out there, can you grab some clothes for me so I can go straight to the shower after my coffee?" Chloe requested.

Elly pressed her lips to Chloe's cheek before shuffling away from her and got out of bed, "No problems."

Chloe narrowed her eyes, "Elly, are you actually going to get me clothes or are you going to say you forgot and I should spend the day naked?"

"Don't be ridiculous…I was at least going to grab you a pair of panties so you're not completely naked since we're waiting before we can make love to each other," Elly teased, before heading out of the room.

Chloe laid her head back on the pillow, "This waiting thing is not easy."

Elly smiled to herself as she walked out into the main living area of her place then stopped short when she spotted Bea sitting at the dining table reading the newspaper and drinking a coffee.

Crap! Just be cool...maybe Bea has forgotten Chloe should be on the couch.

"Good morning!" Elly sung happily as she walked past her younger sister and headed to the kitchen.

"Morning, welcome to a new year, sis," Bea replied, not looking up at Elly, her head still in the newspaper, "You're in a good mood."

"I've got a lot to look forward to this year," Elly explained away as she began brewing a coffee for Chloe and boiling water for a tea for herself, "So... you're up early..."

Bea flipped the page of the newspaper and began reading a new article, "Couldn't sleep...which isn't something I should complain about to you. How'd my nephew sleep last night?"

Elly shrugged, "We were up and down with Elliot all night, nothing unusual, always the same, won't go to sleep when we want him to."

"Hmm and how'd you sleep last night?" Bea asked casually, taking a sip of her coffee.

Elly grabbed some mugs for the coffee and tea, "Do I ever sleep with an infant around to wake me up 5 minutes after I finally fall asleep?"

"Hmm and what about Chloe? How did she sleep last night?" Bea pried.

"A smidge better than I did. She woke up naturally for once instead of because of my crying, screaming son," Elly admitted, then off Bea's look of triumph, "Damn."

Bea immediately dropped the newspaper on the dining table, hopped out of the chair and hopped over to one of the stools by the kitchen island, sitting opposite Elly, "I knew Chloe slept in your bed last night! Spill!"

Elly blushed, "How long exactly have you been up reading the newspaper?"

"About an hour, Chloe didn't sleep on the couch this morning and she wasn't there when we went to bed last night...okay technically it was this morning on account of staying up for the New Years' countdown but you know what I mean. So, spill!" Bea said excitably.

"Spill on what, Bea?" Elly asked as she poured the boiling water to make her tea.

"You and Chloe spent the night together...did the two of you...y'know?" Bea hinted at.

Elly rolled her eyes, "No, we did not...y'know. Geez, Bea, that's not going to be happening for a while. I had a baby last week; my body is a mess. I'm not going to be up to that for...some time. Even if I was...I will not be...y'knowing with Chloe when my infant son is a meter from my bed."

And also, Chloe's still technically with Pierce...not a big enough reason to not be with Chloe...to me anyway.

"Fine, so what did you two do?" Bea wanted to know.

Yeah...I owe you $20...

"Fell asleep in each other's arms," Elly settled on answering.

"How romantic!" Bea gushed.

Elly raised her eyebrow, "Is it romantic if I fell asleep with my arms around Chloe nearly 20 times on account of getting up and down all night long?"

"I knew you were the big spoon to Chloe," Bea teased, "Yes, actually that sounds very romantic to spoon your girlfriend that many times. I'm glad you two have given into the fact that sharing a bed is a much better option than Chloe sleeping on our couch. It'll be good to have our living room back."

Elly poured Chloe's coffee, "It was just one night, Bea. Chloe will be back on the couch for the rest of her time here until she's broken up with Pierce."

"Oh c'mon, that's not what either of you want," Bea complained.

"No, but it is what is, Bea. Last night was only because it was New Years' and Chloe and I wanted to spend the night as we plan on spending the rest of the year...once she's dumped Pierce," Elly explained.

"You two are so hopelessly in love with each other. Pierce is not worth any of this angst," Bea pointed out.

Elly smirked at Bea in agreement before heading over to the living room, and rifling through Chloe's suitcase with her clothes to look for something that didn't look like it needed to be in the washing machine even though Chloe had worn through all her clothes she had brought with her. Flinging the clothes chosen over her shoulder, Elly returned to the kitchen for the coffee and tea she'd made.

"What time do you want me to take Elliot this morning so you and your girl can catch up on your sleep?" Bea asked.

"Late morning, okay? You can wake me whenever Elliot needs a feed. Give Chloe and I a chance to sleep until late afternoon?" Elly checked.

"Sounds like a plan," Bea agreed, "So...since I'll be here looking after my gorgeous nephew, Karl and Suze will be out all day long and I know Chloe spent the night in your bed even though I'm sure as soon as Chloe has showered she's going to go back to the couch to make it look like she was there all night..."

Elly stared at her sister as she trailed off, "Yes, Bea..."

Bea smiled at Elly, "Spend the day catching up on your sleep together in your bed. I won't tell anyone. It's the least you two deserve if you're going to go back to this dumb couch arrangement."

Elly picked up the coffee and tea mugs, as she headed back to her bedroom, "I'll think it over."

Elly smiled at Chloe when she saw the blonde had fallen back asleep in her bed as she entered her bedroom. Elly placed Chloe's coffee on her bedside table, flung Chloe's clothes on the corner of her bed, sat her own tea down on her own bedside table. Elly then slipped under the covers and wrapped her body around Chloe's.

Chloe soon woke from the feeling of Elly holding her, "Morning...again. Coffee...you're my hero."

"If that's all it takes, I should do this for you every morning," Elly whispered.

"Everything okay?" Chloe asked, sensing Elly had something to tell her.

Elly nuzzled against Chloe's neck, "Of course...got your coffee and your clothes, made myself a tea..." then as fast paced as she could humanly manage to mutter, "Beawasawakeknowsyouspentthenightinmybed."

"I'm sorry what are you trying to say," Chloe glanced at Elly.

Elly groaned, as she repeated in her normal tone, "Bea was awake, knows you spent the night in my bed...but it's like totally cool because she was fine about it. I told Bea it was only because of New Years' and whilst she doesn't think Pierce is worth any of the angst of us not sleeping in this bed together for as long as you're here...she gets why we can't."

Chloe nodded, "Should've known this would get out. Does Bea know we...kissed last night?"

Elly shook her head, "No. I mean Bea asked me if we had slept together slept together and I had to point out to her that we won't be for a while as my body's messed up from giving birth...so I sidestepped telling her that we kissed since she never asked that."

"Okay, thanks for not telling Bea. Was Bea really okay with us sharing a bed together? She doesn't think I'm cheating on Pierce?" Chloe worried.

Elly pressed her lips to Chloe's jawline, "Bea is more than okay with us spending the night together. In fact, since she's minding Elliot today and the rest of the fam won't be around...Bea suggested the two of us catch up on our sleep together. Would that be okay with you? Us spending the afternoon sleeping in my bed...you can go back to the couch tonight...if you have to."

Chloe thought for a moment, "I'd be okay with that."

Elly smiled at Chloe but before she could say anything else, she heard Elliot waking in a crying fit. Elly squeezed Chloe's hip, "I got him. You enjoy your coffee and your shower. Don't forget to do your laundry this morning."

"I love you looking out for me," Chloe grinned.

As Elly went over to the cot she turned back to Chloe, "I love that you love me looking out for you."

Thursday 2nd January – 8:00am

Aaron answered his phone, "Pierce, mate, it's a bit early to hear from you. How are ya?"

"Hey, Aaron," Pierce greeted, "Sorry about that, thought you'd be at the gym and I could catch you. I haven't been able to get a hold of Chloe again."

Aaron was standing in the Brenaka kitchen, fussing about trying to look for breakfast materials, "It's a bit early for Chloe, mate. Or…I mean it is cause Chloe's…still off work at the moment so has no need to…get up at a decent hour."

Aaron shook his head at his own words, knowing full well Chloe was with Elly and had spent the night helping Elly with baby Elliot, just like she'd been doing for a week now, and Chloe would be up by now. Aaron hated keeping the truth from Pierce but knew it wasn't his place to tell Pierce what was going on. Though he knew he would have to apologize to Pierce once the truth came out that Chloe was leaving Pierce for Elly.

"I guess it is. I just wanted to let Chloe know I'm on my way home," Pierce announced.

Aaron raised his eyebrow, "That's great, Pierce. I thought you wouldn't be back until the weekend."

"Earlier flight," Pierce replied, "Can you let Chloe know for me if you see her soon?"

"No problems at all, I can do that," Aaron agreed, then hearing Hendrix coming inside the house from the pool, "Look I gotta get going. I'll let Chloe know you're on your way home. Enjoy your flight."

Aaron hung up as Hendrix came into the house, toweling himself down, "Looks like your Dad booked an earlier flight, he's on his way back. Now did you end up telling Pierce you were crashing here on our couch or does he still think you and Chloe were at his place this week?"

Hendrix ran the towel over his hair trying to dry it, "Yeah...I did not tell Dad I've been here with you guys...I thought it would raise questions about why Chloe didn't want to stay at his. "

Aaron sighed at the teen, "I guess that would've raised questions. What are you getting up to today?"

Hendrix shrugged, "Literally the only thing I have planned is to take a shower after that swim and then that's all I got."

Aaron nodded, "Well we are out of breakfast. What do you say you leave the shower for a bit? Let's go to the Waterhole, I'll treat you to a big breakfast as thanks for not being a pain staying on our couch for the week. We can come back here to shower, pack your things and we'll get you back to your Dad's place. I'll hang with you there tonight. Oh, and we'll stop by Elly's place at lunch to let the girls know Pierce is on his way home. Sound good?"

"Let's do it, thanks Aaron," Hendrix agreed, as he picked up a clean shirt from his pile of clothes on the couch, putting it on, deciding to let his board shorts dry out in the walk to the Waterhole, "When will Dad's flight land?"

Aaron grabbed his wallet, phone and keys as he led Hendrix out of the house, "Ah Pierce didn't say what time his flight lands. Pretty sure it's a good 20-odd hour flight via Los Angeles. It's why we'll stay at yours tonight as his flight will probably land first thing in the morning."

"And so, Chloe can practice her break up speech?" Hendrix smirked.

Aaron rolled his eyes, "We'll let Chloe and Elly have the morning to themselves and then Chloe can stew over her break up speech later today. We've got some time up our sleeve to get everything sorted before Pierce gets here."

Pierce stared at his phone for a moment after Aaron ended the call, wondering if he should call him back but decided against it.

Pierce held out his hand for a taxi. After putting his luggage in the boot of the taxi, Pierce sat in the front seat.

"Where are we off to today?" the taxi driver asked him.

"Ramsay Street, Erinsborough," Pierce answered.

After plugging the info into his GPS for directions the taxi driver told him, "We'll be there in an hour. Did you have a good flight?"

"Perfect," Pierce replied, "Aside from spending New Years' Eve on the flight and missing the usual celebration for it...it was a really good flight. I'm glad to be home."